History of cessationism / tongues and prophecy?

I asked about this a couple of years ago, but does anyone know where one might find a history of cessationism / claims to speak in tongues or prophecy?

Last time I quoted this from Packer:

Seventeenth-century England did not, to my knowledge, produce anyone who claimed the gift of tongues, and though claimants to prophetic and healing powers were not unknown, particularly in the wild days of the forties and fifties, the signs of 'enthusiasm' (fanatical delusion) and mental unbalance were all too evident.

(Among God's Giants, p290)

And for John Owen:

gifts which in their own nature exceed the whole power of all our faculties" [tongues, prophecy, healing powers] belong to "that dispensation of the Spirit [which] is long since ceased, and where it is now pretended unto by any, it may justly be suspected as an enthusiastical delusion

(Owen, Works, IV:518)

There's also Jonathan Edwards:

Since the canon of the Scripture has been completed, and the Christian Church fully founded and established, these extraordinary gifts have ceased.

(Jonathan Edwards, Charity & Its Fruits, 29)

The Westminster Confession of Faith, of course says:

I. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

(Chapter 1. Of the holy Scripture)

How much is cessationism the consensus position of the Reformed church? Or the Catholic church for that matter?

I guess one place to look would be:

B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (New York: Charles Scribners, 1918).

The Wikipedia artilcle on Cessationism gives some leads and also links to some Cessationist articles at the Highway, including those by Charles Hodge, J. Gresham Machen and Richard Gaffin.

I could have done with a few lectures on this at Vicar factory!

Tim Ambrose has been blogging

There are riches at Rev'd Tim Ambrose's blog, Timothy Titus:

http://timotheostitos.blogspot.com/

And I'm looking forward to further goodies.

Roger Carswell Audio

Evangelist and author Roger Carswell is due to be the main speaker at the Sussex Gospel Partnership Passion for Life Mission in 2010. He's a very engaging and biblically faithful speaker. But you may not want to take my word for it. You can hear him for yourself all over the internet before you invite your friends, family, neighbours, colleages, dog and budgey to hear him in the flesh.

Googleing something like "Roger Carswell audio" yields the kind of things you might be interested in.

Here are some of the things I hastily gleaned from there. Sometimes a bit of scrolling down, looking around or searching is needed:

http://www.emw.org.uk/resources/audio/en/?preacher=16

http://www.sucu.org.uk/resources/audio-recordings

2006-2007

Tuesday 20th February Forgiven - Can God really forgive me for ...? - Roger Carswell 14MB mp3

Monday 19th February Me Myself and I - Who am I? - Roger Carswell 18MB mp3

Monday 19th February Where is God in a messed up World - Roger Carswell 11MB mp3

Sunday 10th December Away in a Manger or here with us now? - Roger Carswell 3.8MB mp3

Saturday 4th November Houseparty Talk 3 - 1 Thessalonians 4 - Roger Carswell 11MB mp3

Saturday 4th November Houseparty Talk 2 - 1 Thessalonians 2 - Roger Carswell 14MB mp3

Friday 3rd November Houseparty Talk 1 - 1 Thessalonians 1 - Roger Carswell 14MB mp3

http://www.nucu.org/recordings.php?list&series=Reality

http://www.uccf.org.uk/resources/life-roger-carswell.htm

http://www.septemberbibleschool.org.uk/audio.html

http://www.atthecastle.org.uk/audio/

If anyone knows of any other Roger Carswell stuff (especially perhaps a typical evangelistic talk!) which is available for free on the interweb, please feel free to add a comment.

Update: see also

www.theevangelist.org.uk & www.tell-me-more.org (includes some audio)

History of Paedocommunion

Here is the conclusion of Tommy Lee's "The History of Paedocommunion: From the Early Church Until 1500”: (emphasis added) From the third century until the twelfth and thirteenth century there is overwhelming evidence that the Western Church regularly brought her infants and young children to participate in the Lord's Supper. This is evidenced by several primary sources and substantiated by numerous secondary sources. Before this time, "we have no unambiguous evidence about the practice"⁸³ of paedocommunion. However, not even the most ardent opponents of infant and young child communion have been able to adequately explain why it "suddenly" became the common and universal practice of the church in the third century. The most logical explanation of the church's third century paedocommunion practice is that it was the same as the church's first and second century paedocommunion practice. The efforts of Coppes and others to shed doubt on the presence of infant and young child communion in the first and second centuries have been ineffective. We do not have any direct references to paedocommunion in first or second century documents, but as soon as references to this practice appear, (far from being considered novel) they are accidental remarks about a practice as common and ordinary as going to sleep at night.

In the West, history records the infants and young children of the church being denied the Lord's Supper for the first time in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is important to note that "the Lord's Supper was lost to the church's children in the west not as a result of a purification of the church's practice of the sacrament but rather as the result of a horrible corruption of it."⁸⁴ There were three or four minor realities that deterred people from having their infants and children communed, but the primary reason for their exclusion was the superstitious fear of the elements provoked by the theory of transubstantiation.

In Eastern Christianity , there has never been a reason to discontinue the ancient tradition of paedocommunion which has been handed down to them from the early church. "Still today in the Eastern Orthodox Church, infants [receive]... the three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, within a few minutes of each other, and in that order."⁸⁵

There have been a few reformational attempts in the West to restore the early church's custom of communing her infants and young children, but these endeavours have never totally won the day. The most famous of these attempts came from the fifteenth century Hussites. The following is a portion of one of their communion hymns:

"You gave us his body to eat, His holy blood to drink What more could he have done for us?

"Let us not deny it to little children Nor forbid them When they eat Jesus' body.

"Of such is the kingdom of heaven As Christ himself told us, And holy David says also:

"From the mouths of small children And of all innocent babes Has come forth God's praise That the adversary may be cast down.

***

"Praise God, you children You tiny babes, For he will not drive you away, But feed you on his holy body."⁸⁶

----------

⁸² Ibid., 35. ⁸³ Leithart, 34. ⁸⁴ Robert S. Rayburn, "Report of the Ad-Interim Committee to Study the Question of Paedocommunion," in PCA Digest Position Papers 1973-1993 Part V, ed. Paul R. Gilchrist (Atlanta: Presbyterian Church in America, 1993), 513.

⁸⁵ DeMolen, 54-55. ⁸⁶Cited in Rayburn, 514.

The Feeding of the 5000

Some headings for a brief sermon on John 6:1-14 in our BCP Communion service today:

The people's need

The disciples' inability

Jesus' ability

Jesus chooses to use his disciples

So let us come to the Lord's table:
Knowing that we are hungry and needy
Ackowledging our inability and our pathetic resources
Trusting Jesus' limitless power, depending on him to feed us and keep us going to the promised land
Daring to offer him the little that we have and willing to be used by him, getting involved in what he is doing.

Amen.

I'm going to have another crack at preaching on John 6:1-15 on 10th May, d.v., so I'll let you know if I think its meaning has changed. The Vicar also preached a brief sermon on it on 8th March (along similar lines, I seem to remember) entitled 'Into all the world' at a service which had a world mission focus. John's sermon is available on our church website sermon page.

Best job in the world

Thomas Carlyle apparently said:

Who, having been called to be a preacher, would stoop to be a king?

Quoted in Bruce Milne, The Message of John, BST (IVP, 1993), p100

Art and the Bible

There's lots of great stuff at Art and the Bible, searchable by Scripture passage and so on.

Church Dogmatics

Barth's Church Dogmatics appears to be available online.

Thanks to Philip Sumpter for the pointer.

Update: Ah, they seem to be requiring a password now. Shame.

Passion for Life Mission Videos

Videos promoting the Passion for Life mission are now available to view at:

http://www.youtube.com/apassionforlife2010

How much is 200 denarii?

In preparing to preach on John 6 I've spent far too long trying to work out how much 200 denarri (which Philip says in v7 it would cost to feed the crowd of about 5000 men) would be worth in Britain today, and I'm not sure I'm much the wiser. Unless my sums fail me, which they probably do (!), I reckon 200 denarri might be somewhere between 8 and 23 thousand pounds, which seems an absurdly wide range! I might plump for £15 000 as a guestimate.

Based on the minimum wage:

From 1 October 2008 the UK minimum wage for workers aged 22 years and older is £5.73 per hour.

ESV: a denarius was a daily wage for a worker

£5.73 X 7 hours for a day: £40.11 a day

£40.11 days wage X200 denarrii = £8 000

NIV: 200 denarrii = 8 months wages (= aprox 240 days wages)

£5.73 X 7 hours for a day: £40.11 a day

£40.11 a day X (8 months = 240 days) = £9 626.40

Based on the median wage:

Median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK in April 2008 was £479.

ESV: a denarius was a daily wage for a worker

£479 per week / 5 = £95.80 a day ; 95.80X200 denarri = £19 160

NIV: 200 denarrii = 8 months wages (= aprox 240 days wages)

£479 per week /5 days X 240 days = £22 992

Since doing these sums, I notice that Tom Wright (John for Everyone, SPCK, p71) "translates" 200 denarrii as "six months' pay".

In Mark 6, Tom Wright "translates" 200 denarrii as "£10 000".

Simnel Sunday

Since we finished our Christmas cake on 2nd Feb I've been looking forward in hope to a Simnel cake for Easter, but it turns out that I need not have waited so long. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Mothering Sunday has also traditionally been known as Simnel Sunday and Refreshment Sunday. Families would often get together on this day and Simnel cake would be enjoyed in a lessening of the austerities of Lent. I'm afraid I've no Lentern fast to set aside, but any excuse for some Simnel cake...

Where to look at Communion?

John, our vicar, has lost his voice so I was asked to preach a one-off at short notice on Sunday. As it was going to be a Communion service I thought it might be good to think about the Lord's Supper together.

Here are some jottings from my handout. (The audio sermon should appear on our church website in due course).

Perspectives on the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 10:14-22; 11:17-34)

PAST:

Ø Look back to the Lord’s death (11:23-26)

Last Supper; Passover; Remember (11:24, 25) – Visible Word

PRESENT:

Ø Look up to the Lord (11:24)

His Supper – not mine or yours, not the minister’s, not the church’s

Give thanks (10:16; 11:24) – “Eucharist” = “thanksgiving”

A participation / sharing / fellowship / “communion” in Christ (10:16) – enjoy his (spiritual) presence

Ø Look away from idols / demons (10:14, 20-21)

Ø Look within to yourselves (11:26-32)

Examine yourself (11:28); Confession; Humility

Ø Look around to the body of Christ (11:7-22, 29, 33)

A family meal; Unity (10:17)

Ø Look out to the world (11:26, 32)

“Mass” = “go”, sent out (in mission)

FUTURE:

Ø Look forward to the Lord’s return (11:26)

The Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9)

Preaching Plans

In addition to some midweek BCP Communion services (using the lectionary), here are my preaching plans for May - Aug '09. Basically I'm continuing my series in the 10 commandments and John's Gospel. No "clever" titles, I'm afraid.

10^th May PM – John 6:1-15 – The Feeding of the 5000

31^st May AM – Pentecost Holiday Club Family Service

We're using TnT's God's Miracle Worker: Elisha (Christian Focus, CF4 Kids) as our holiday club material.

14^th June PM – John 6:16-24 – Jesus walks on the water

21^st June AM – Exodus 20:12 – Honour your father and your mother

19^th July PM – John 6:25-59 – The Bread of Life

26^th July AM – Exodus 20:13 – You shall not murder

9^th Aug PM – John 6:60-71 – The words of eternal life

16^th Aug AM – Exodus 20:14 – You shall not commit adultery

Make them see & feel

Calvin said:

Let those who would discharge aright the ministry of the Gospel learn not merely to speak or to declaim, but to penetrate the consciences of men, and make them see Christ crucified, and feel the shedding of His blood. When the Church has painters such as these, she no longer needs dead images of wood and stone, she no longer requires pictures; both of which unquestionably were first admitted to Christian temples when the pastors had become dumb and been converted into mere idols, or when they uttered a few words from the pulpit in such a cold and careless manner that the power and efficacy of the ministry was utterly extinguished."

Commentary on Gal 3:1, CR 50:202-3, quoted in Wallace, Word and Sacrament etc. pp248-9

And for my next trick... !

Calvin says:

When I baptise, is it as if I had the Holy Ghost up my sleeve to produce at any time? or the body and blood of the Lord to offer to whom I please? It would be sheer presumption to seek to attribute to mortal creatures what belongs to Jesus Christ.

Sermon on Acts 1:4-5, CR 48:600 quoted in Wallace, Word and Sacrament etc. p172

You shall not bear / lift up the name of Yahweh in vain

Some jottings for my sermon tomorrow morning (audio on our church sermon page in the fullness of time):

Using God’s name / “Jesus” as a swear word - COED

Serious: “the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name”

“I don’t mean anything by it” – Thoughtless use of God’s name

Our thoughts and attitudes not just the sounds we make (“Golly”)

Names in the Bible describe - God’s name stands for his character (Ex 34:5-7)

Anything contrary to God’s character forbidden – the whole of creation bears his name (Acts 7:49; Mt 23:16-22; 5:33-37; Ps 8:1; 19)

God has revealed his name - The blessings of knowing God’s name - relationship

LORD = Yahweh / Jehovah – God’s unique personal covenant name - I am who I am (Ex 3) – God has the authority to name / define himself – he is self-existent / self-sufficient

We “bear” God’s name (Num 6:27; Dt 28:10; 2 Chron 7:14; Dan 9:18-19; Rev 13:6) – “Christians” – baptised in the Triune name (Mt 28:19)

God’s name / fame / reputation depends on us (Rm 2:24)

“Lift up” – “vain” / empty worship (Ps 24:4) – sincerity – hypocrisy – reverence & awe (Ecc 5:1-7)

A right use of God’s name – “Hallowed be your name” (Mt 6:9), not ours (Gen 11:4; Ps 115:1; Is 42:8) - Honour God with our speech (integrity) - Call on God’s name (Prov 18:10) – Proclaim his name

The name of Jesus – “I AM” (Jn 8:58) – powerful (Acts 3:6) – Pray in his name - bow, confess (Phil 2:9-11); be saved (Acts 4:12)

Jesus has borne the guilt of all his people who have misused God’s name – God acts for (the glory of) his name’s sake

Good golly gosh!

The third commandment applies to our thoughts and attitudes not just to the sounds we make when speaking.

We may manage to avoid using God’s name as a swear word, but what about our thoughts of God?

We may have substituted “golly” or “gosh” for God’s name, but if we’re still thinking “God”, though we manage to say something else, we still fall foul of this commandment.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with saying “golly” or “gosh”, of course. Though those words were originally a substitute for God’s name, the meanings of words depends on their usage not their origin, so it’s possible to use those words without any sin being involved

.

There’s nothing wrong with expressing surprise – or whatever – with words such as “golly” or “gosh”. Ultimately it’s the heart that counts.

True Guilt

In a sermon preached on Ex 20:7 at St Andrew the Great, Cambridge, on 3^rd May 1998, Colin Marshall commented that:

Our modern society would have us feel guilty for not recycling our rubbish but not for recycling marriage partners.

Wedding sermon gags

D.v. I'm going to marry my (non-Christian) sister in the Summer.

Any tips on the sermon gratefully recieved!

We've pencilled in 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4:7-12 and John 15:9-12 as the readings.

Got any good gags? - though I am conscious that it should be more sermon than best-man or father of the bride-ish!

If you're going to be there, look away now to avoid spoilers!

I thought I might say something about love in marriage and the love of God for us shown in Jesus' penal death for us.

Here are a couple of gags I remember hearing in wedding sermons:

A woman, who wasn't in the habit of giving her husband complements, once told him that he was a "model husband". He was so flattered that he looked up "model" in the dictionary where he read: "a model: a small fake imitation of the real thing".

(Could lead into Eph 5 - Christ as the model husband).

* * *

A young Christian was struggling in his marriage and, in need of advice, he asked an older, wiser Christian if he'd ever contemplated divorce. The older man looked him in the eye and replied: "Divorce? Never. Murder, many times."

3 words for Marriage

If I were doing some marriage preparation (especially with non-Christians) I might recommend 3 that one should say to one's husband or wife and to God:

To one's partner...

(1) SORRY - be quick to apologise, keep short accounts

(2) THANK YOU - don't take one another for granted, show appreciation

(3) PLEASE - communicate and talk about how you'd like to do things - how can your partner show you appreciation etc.

To God...

(1) SORRY - that I have ignored you, rebelled against you and lived my way for myself

(2) THANK YOU - for your love and grace, that the Lord Jesus took the penalty for my sins

(3) PLEASE - forgive me and help me by your Spirit to live for the Lord Jesus Christ